Some conventional vehicles include a turbocharger and/or a supercharger, which increase the air or air/fuel mixture density of an engine by increasing the pressure of the intake air stream prior to its entering a cylinder of the engine. Increasing the density of air in the cylinder may be desirable because it provides a method of increasing the power generated by the engine. Since pressure is directly related to heat, as the charger increases the pressure of the intake air stream, it also increases the temperature. Cooling of this charged intake air stream enables an additional increase in its pressure since cooler air can be more densely packed. This additional cooling is typically accomplished through the use of an intercooler.
Some intercoolers may include a secondary cooling feature provided by an additional component such as, for example, a vehicle air conditioning circuit. However, such systems typically continuously draw cooling from the additional component, thereby overworking the system and reducing its performance. Moreover, the additional component will need to be increased in size to support the secondary cooling in addition to its primary operation. Accordingly, while such conventional intercooler cooling systems work for their intended purpose, it is desirable to provide an improved intercooler cooling system with improved control features.